Code of Conduct

Code of Conduct of Böckling GmbH & Co. KG

Böckling GmbH & Co. KG, a family-run company specialising in the decoration of glass, ceramic and porcelain products, has a 75-year history of ethically, legally and economically sound business practices.

The quality of our products, decorations, services and processes, as well as our own behaviour towards our customers, suppliers and employees, are of key importance to the long-term market success of our company, but also to that of our customers.

Our commitment is to ensure customer satisfaction, as well as compliance with all legal and official regulations. As sustainability is becoming increasingly important to our society, we are already implementing various measures such as generating our own electricity, saving resources and using electric cars, without, however, losing sight of the human factor and our social responsibility as a company.

Especially in today's world, it is important to act in a sustainable, long-term and cooperative manner. Above all, this includes treating all employees, business partners, the environment, resources and society as a whole in a respectful, responsible and sustainable manner. Our guiding principles are clearly and unambiguously defined in this Code of Conduct - a clear commitment for our employees, suppliers, customers, business partners and ourselves.

Contents

  1. Human rights and fair labour conditions
  2. Our values
  3. Sustainability and environmental awareness
  4. Avoidance of conflicts of interest
  5. Fair competition
  6. Information security and data protection
  7. Protection of property and assets
  8. Dealing with the Code of Conduct
  9. Corporate mission statement
  10. Corporate and quality policy

01. Human rights and fair labour conditions (according to ETI Base Code)

1. The employment relationship is freely chosen

1.1 There is no forced labour, forced servitude or involuntary prison labour.

1.2 Workers are not required to leave a "deposit" or their identification documents with their employer and are free to leave their employer after reasonable notice.

2. Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are respected

2.1 Workers have the right, without exception, to organise and form a trade union of their own choosing and to bargain collectively.

2.2 The employer adopts an open attitude towards the activities of trade unions and their organisational activities.

2.3 Employee representatives are not discriminated against and have the opportunity to fulfil their representative functions in the workplace.

2.4 Where the right to organise and bargain collectively is restricted by legislation, the employer shall facilitate and not hinder the development of equal means of independent and free association and bargaining.

3. The working conditions at Böckling are safe and hygienic

3.1 A safe and hygienic working environment is ensured, taking into account the general knowledge of the industry and certain hazards. Appropriate measures shall be taken to prevent accidents and damage to health arising in the course of, in connection with or as a result of work by minimising, as far as reasonably practicable, hazards associated with the working environment.

3.2 Workers shall receive regular and recorded health and safety training. This training shall be repeated for new or re-employed workers.

3.3 Access to clean toilet facilities and potable water and, where appropriate, food storage facilities should be provided.

3.4 Accommodation, when provided, must be clean, safe and meet the basic needs of workers.

3.5 The company complying with the guidelines should assign responsibility for health and safety to a representative of the management.

4. No child labour is used

4.1 There shall be no use of child labour.

4.2 Companies should develop or participate in policies and programmes that ensure the transfer of a child found performing child labour to quality education and retention until the end of childhood.

4.3 Children and young people under the age of 18 are not employed at night or under dangerous conditions.

4.4 These policies and procedures shall be consistent with the provisions of the relevant ILO standards.

5. Minimum wages are paid

5.1 Wages and allowances paid for a regular working week shall at least comply with national legal requirements or the industry standard, whichever is higher. In any case, wages should always be sufficient to cover basic needs and provide some disposable income.

5.2 All workers receive written and understandable information on working conditions in relation to wages before they start work and at each payment on wage details for the relevant reference period.

5.3 Deductions from wages as disciplinary measures will not be permitted, nor will deductions from wages not authorised by national legislation be made without the express consent of the worker concerned. All disciplinary measures shall be recorded.

6. The working time is not excessive

6.1 Working hours are in accordance with national legislation and the industry standard and subsections 6.2 to 6.6 below, depending on where the greater protection is provided. Subsections 6.2 to 6.6 are based on international labour standards.

6.2 Working hours, excluding overtime, must be specified in the contract and may not exceed 48 hours per week.

6.3 Overtime is voluntary. All overtime must be used on a responsible basis and must respect the following: the extent, frequency and hours worked by individual workers and the workforce as a whole. Overtime must not be used as a substitute for regular labour. Overtime is always compensated with an overtime premium, although it is recommended that this should not be less than 125% of the regular wage or taken as time off.

6.4 The total hours worked over a period of 6 days must not exceed 60 hours, unless these are covered by subsection 6.5.

6.5 The total hours worked over a period of seven days may only exceed 60 hours in exceptional circumstances in which all of the following apply:

  • This is permitted by state law;
  • This was decided in a collective bargaining agreement negotiated freely with an employee organisation that represents a significant proportion of the workforce;
  • Appropriate safety measures have been introduced to protect the health and safety of workers;
  • and the employer can prove that there are exceptional circumstances, such as unexpected production peaks, accidents or emergencies.

7. Discrimination is not practised

7.1 There shall be no discrimination in recruitment, remuneration, admission to training, promotion, termination of employment or retirement on the grounds of race, caste, nationality, religion, age, disability, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, trade union membership or political affiliation.

8. There is a regulated employment relationship

8.1 The work performed is, as far as possible, carried out on the basis of the recognised working relationship established by national legislation and practice.

8.2 Obligations to employees arising from labour or social security law and regulations relating to a regular employment relationship shall not be avoided by the use of labour-only contracts, subcontracting or homeworking or by training schemes without the intention of imparting skills or providing a regular employment relationship, nor shall such obligations be avoided by the excessive use of fixed-term employment contracts.

9. Inhumane or brutal treatment is not permitted

9.1 Physical abuse or discipline, threats of physical abuse, sexual or other harassment and verbal abuse or other forms of intimidation are prohibited.

The provisions of this Code set minimum standards, not maximum requirements, and should not be used to prevent companies from improving these standards. Companies applying this Code are expected to comply with national and other applicable laws and, where the provisions of the legislation and the Base Code address the same issues, to apply the provisions that provide the greater protection.

02. Our values

We comply with the legal and regulatory requirements relating to labour law and the General Equal Treatment Act. In accordance with our corporate principles, we do not tolerate any form of marginalisation, sexual harassment or other personal attacks against individuals.

We also ensure occupational health and safety in the workplace and are committed to creating a healthy working environment. Employees are regularly (at least once a year) informed about applicable health and safety regulations, instructed, trained and, if necessary, examined by a company doctor.

It is particularly important to us to ensure a good work-life balance for our employees. We therefore endeavour to find individual solutions.

Our management and our employees form a single unit in our company. Our employees are therefore integrated into the target management process and conflicts are resolved on an equal footing. The same approach is also applied to our suppliers and customers and is the key to a long-term and successful cooperation.

Employee satisfaction is very important to us, which is why our permanent employees are given more than the statutory holiday entitlement. Our temporary staff receive the statutory minimum holiday entitlement.

We comply with the national requirements of the Working Hours Act. Böckling recognises the right of employees to appropriate remuneration and adheres to at least the statutory minimum wage.

Permanent employees are paid more than the statutory requirements and temporary staff are paid at least the statutory requirements.

03. Sustainability and environmental awareness

Our machinery has been supplemented by the latest printing lines, which means that operating materials have been avoided and gas consumption in production has been greatly reduced.

Our vehicle fleet is state of the art. As a minimum, we use vehicles with the EURO 6 emissions standard. Furthermore, we rely almost exclusively on electric and hybrid vehicles. Thanks to our large number of photovoltaic systems, we produce a proportion of our electricity consumption for our production and vehicles, while the rest is fed into the grid.

Thanks to state-of-the-art LED technology, the LED tubes in our production halls, warehouses and administration centre convert electricity into light much more efficiently. This means that around 50% less energy is required for the same light output.

Defective EUR pallets that no longer meet the standard are made fit for reuse in our in-house workshop and thus returned to the pallet cycle. We always prefer recycling to destruction.

Our aim is to avoid waste and ensure resource-conserving materials management. Defective pallets that cannot be repaired are either disposed of separately in a timber container or used to generate heat. Where possible, cardboard packaging is reused and wrapping film is only used to the extent necessary.

04. Avoidance of conflicts of interest

We are aware that decisions in connection with Böckling's professional activities must not be characterised by private interests or personal relationships.

The balance between efficiency and ethics, taking into account all ecological, economic and social aspects, is of the utmost importance to us.

Secondary employment can lead to conflicts of interest between Böckling and its employees.

For this reason, secondary employment that may give rise to a conflict of interest is always subject to Böckling's approval.

In the case of secondary employment for or within the company that is in competition with us, a conflict of interest is always assumed.

Likewise, we do not disregard the moral basis for decision-making, fairness and protective function as an employer towards our employees.

Every customer is treated equally. Treated respectfully, seriously and fairly. We want to offer our customers absolute added value through our services and fully utilise synergies together.

05. Fair competition

Corruption and bribery is a gross abuse of a position of trust in a function or organisation in order to obtain a material or immaterial advantage to which there is no legally justified claim. This applies to all employees of Böckling GmbH & Co.

We win our customer orders exclusively in a fair manner through the price, service and quality of our offer. No monetary payments or other benefits may be made in order to influence official decisions or to gain an unjustified advantage.

Our actions are based on the standards of responsible corporate governance.

No employee may use their position in the company to demand, accept, obtain or be promised benefits. Exceptions to this are the acceptance of occasional gifts of symbolic value, benefits for all employees or invitations to meals or events within an appropriate framework, provided that local customs are respected.

Violations will not be tolerated.

06. Information security and data protection

When implementing the data protection principles, we endeavour to guarantee the right to informational self-determination, protection against improper data processing and the protection of the privacy of our employees, customers, business customers, suppliers and business partners in addition to the legal requirements.

We store personal data securely and only transfer it in compliance with the relevant laws and by taking the necessary precautions. We guarantee a high standard of data quality and technical protection against unauthorised access. We present the use of data transparently to the data subjects and safeguard their rights as data subjects in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation.

07. Protection of property and assets

Our tangible and intangible company property and operating assets represent the means to achieve our business objectives.

Theft not only has consequences under labour and civil law but is also prosecuted under criminal law.

Our intellectual property and that of our customers, suppliers and business partners is a valuable asset that we protect against unauthorised use.

This applies in particular to copyright and patent law protected trademarks, logos, business and trade secrets and associated expertise.

08. Dealing with the Code of Conduct

We expect our employees, subcontractors and suppliers to share our principles and to comply with all legal requirements. We also expect the same from our suppliers:

  • compliance with all applicable laws,
  • the renunciation of corruption,
  • respect for human rights,
  • compliance with the laws against child labour,
  • taking responsibility for the health and safety of their employees,
  • compliance with minimum wage and temporary labour laws,
  • compliance with the laws on working hours,
  • Compliance with environmental and climate protection laws and standards
  • compliance with data protection and information security laws and the requirement that these value principles are also implemented and adhered to in our own supply chain.

As we have been ISO 9001 and 14001 certified since 2014, we are endeavouring to successfully incorporate the Code of Conduct into our integrated management system.

09. Corporate mission statement

Böckling GmbH und Co. KG is a family-run company now in its third generation with Ina and Manuel Böckling and celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2024. The company, based in Neudenau, Baden-Württemberg, decorates glass, ceramic and porcelain items in the drinking sector according to customised and individual solutions. True to the motto: We can do everything except High-German, there is a realisation for every possibility. We endeavour to offer our customers added value for the items through decoration. Our oak ‘bö’ or ‘Böckling’ is the recognition value of our company and can be found not only in Germany but also worldwide abroad.

Thanks to state-of-the-art technology, we can offer not only direct screen printing and decal decoration, but also digital printing and embossing. Flexibility is one of our great strengths and our team has decades of expertise that we are happy to share with our customers. Our flat hierarchies and organisational structures make it possible to offer our customers a fast service. This leads to a very low complaint rate and maximum customer satisfaction in our company. Another reason for this is that we treat our employees, suppliers and customers as equals. Our family cohesion is reflected in all areas of our company. Our goal is long-term, responsible, sustainable and fair co-operation.

10. Corporate and quality policy Böckling GmbH & Co. KG

At the centre of the quality policy are all measures that are suitable for improving the customer orientation of the products, decoration variants and services of Böckling GmbH & Co. KG products, decoration variants and services.

The realisation of this philosophy is essentially based on

  • Long-term customer loyalty and a high level of customer satisfaction
  • Satisfied, loyal and responsible employees
  • High personnel responsibility through
    • Managers acting as role models
    • High level of knowledge and constant commitment of employees
  • Reliability
  • Cleanliness (administration, production, warehouse, personnel)

Böckling's primary objective is to create sustainably successful performance potential, taking into account quality, environmental and safety aspects. Here we rely on:

  • Process-orientated procedures, which are geared towards problem solving and the needs of the customer (adaptation to customer requirements)
  • Structured procedures with standardised guidelines
  • Analysing and continuously improving operational processes
  • Sustainability / long-term environmental compatibility (environmental responsibility)
  • Compliance with legal and regulatory requirements

In accordance with this principle, it is our declared aim not to tolerate any violations of the Code of Conduct. With our signature, we undertake to respect and comply with our Code of Conduct. It is an integral part of our labour and supplier contracts.